In June 2025 the TU Delft Library launched a redesigned website: a major step toward creating a clearer, more user‑centred digital gateway to our services and collections. Using data from July to December 2025, we can compare how the new website performs against the old one (July to December 2024)
Thanks to Inge Greuzebroek for website editing data collection
1. Page Views and Unique Visitors Have Increased Significantly
One of the most encouraging outcomes is the overall rise in people using the website.
Comparing the old and new Library sites:
- Total page views increased from 125,333 to 213,298
- Unique visitors increased from 26,228 to 72,076
This means more people are visiting the new website, and viewing more pages. The redesigned information structure, improved search, and better linking between key pages likely contribute to this. The bounce rate (people who leave the site immediately) has increased from 46% to 55% This could well be from one-off visitors who are simply looking at the redesign. Data from 2026 will clarify.
The homepage shows the same pattern:
- Homepage views increased from 28,378 to 40,687
- Homepage unique visitors more than doubled, from 9,326 to 24,177.
2. Returning Visitors Have Dropped
One striking metric is the decline in returning visitors:
- returning visitors across the whole site dropped from 8,365 to 3,861.
At first glance, this seems concerning. A plausible explanation is that the redesigned website often attracted a wave of curious one-off visitors, especially during its launch period. People visit to explore the new layout, test the search library collections function, or simply look around. These “look‑once” visitors inflate unique visitor numbers but rarely return. We will have to check data in 2026 to see whether this is true. It could also be that more visitors find what they need and do not have to return to the website.
3. The Unified Search box for the Library Collections is Popular
One significant change comes from what people look at (at least on the Ducth version of the site)
On the old site, the most popular information page was:
- “Printen & kopiëren” (7,715 views).
On the new site, the most popular information page is:
- “Zoeken”, the search results page for different library collections (25,726 views).
This suggests that the work to make the different TU Delft collections cross-searchable was worth it.
“Studieplek of ruimte vinden en boeken” and “Library sources” both attract significantly more traffic than their equivalents on the old website, indicating that these core tasks are now easier to access.
4. Search Engines Are Still the Most Common Entry Route, but Direct Traffic Is Rising
Traffic sources show that:
- Search engines remain the primary way users arrive at the website.
This is good – it shows the Library is still highly discoverable via Google and other external search tools. - Direct visits have increased, suggesting that more users now type the URL directly, bookmark pages, or navigate through other parts of the TU Delft website
The rise in direct visits suggests growing familiarity with the new structure, and that students and staff have found various ways to get quicker to the content they need.